The Delaware cross country team will be looking to improve upon last year's third place finish at the CAA Championships...

Photo by Mark Campbell

University of Delaware Women’s Cross Country Seeking Colonial Athletic Association Title Saturday at Towson

By Delaware Athletics

Nov 1, 2013

COCKEYSVILLE, Md. -- The first Colonial Athletic Association title of the 2013-14 season will be at stake Saturday morning and the University of Delaware women’s cross country squad is aiming to be the first squad to claim a championship.

The Blue Hens will be in action beginning at 11 a.m. as they battle the rest of the CAA at the 30th annual cross country championships being held this season at Oregon Ridge Park. Admission and parking is free.

In addition to Delaware, also competing in the six-kilometer race will be league newcomer College of Charleston, Hofstra, James Madison, UNCW, Northeastern, host Towson, and No. 18 ranked William & Mary. William & Mary is the defending champion and winner of 8 of the last 10 team titles. The Tribe’s Elaina Balouris is the returning individual champion.

The men’s eight-kilometer race will get underway at 10 a.m. with College of Charleston, Hofstra, UNCW, Northeastern, and William & Mary vying for the team title. William & Mary has won each of the last 13 team titles.

Prettyman, a senior from Newark, Del. (St. Mark’s High School), will once again be the Blue Hens’ top hope. She has led the team in all five meets this season and in 16 straight meets over three years. She has posted four top 10 finishes this fall and led the Blue Hens at last year’s CAA meet with a 17th place finish. Lambert finished 20th at the CAA meet a year ago while Daly placed 27th.

The Blue Hens placed third as a team at the CAA meet in 2012, its best finish at the CAA’s since also placing third in its first season in the league in 2001. Delaware last won a conference meet title in 1995 when the Hens captured the America East title.

Delaware’s last individual Top 10 finisher at the meet was Christina Antonopoulos, who finished eighth in 2007. The last Blue Hen to win a conference individual cross country title was Sarah Cowles, who won back-to-back titles in 1995 and 1996 when Delaware competed in the America East conference.